UIDAI allows Airtel to do e-KYC of mobile customers till March 31

Both Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank had come under fire after the Sunil Mittal-led firm allegedly opened accounts of its subscribers without seeking their 'informed consent'

The UIDAI has extended the conditional approval given to Bharti Airtel to conduct Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile subscribers till March 31.

However, the Airtel payments bank e-KYC licence will remain suspended and the operator cannot use the e-KYC and authentication service for opening bank accounts, wallet, DTH or any other service.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in November last year had barred Airtel from conducting Aadhaar-based e-KYC of its mobile customers and payments bank clients after reports emerged that payment bank accounts were opened for its mobile subscribers without "informed consent" and cooking gas subsidy worth crores of rupees